Tearing down an expressway to restore a community: A guest column by Clifton James and John Norquist

In considering whether the elevated expressway over Claiborne Avenue can be replaced with an oak-lined boulevard, New Orleanians are in the position of people in Milwaukee, San Francisco and New York a decade or two ago.

Jennifer Zdon / The Times-PicayunePlanners have introduced drafts for a new master plan for the city of New Orleans which would include the dismantling of the I-10 section through downtown, changing drainage canals into blueways and making the Earhard Expressway an avenue filled with stores such as the Home Depot.
Pedestrians walk under the raised section of the I-10 that runs along Claiborne Ave. near St. Ann Thursday, March 19, 2009.

"You want to do what?" people often ask. Although they're big, grimy and loom over dusty parking lots, the natural reaction once elevated highways are in place is to wonder how a city can function without them.

Quite well in many cases, history tells us. In 1973, New York City's West Side Highway collapsed and was later replaced with West Avenue. A predicted traffic nightmare never materialized. Some traffic stopped using the route as a shortcut. Other traffic switched to the boulevard, nearby streets or mass transit.

This story repeated itself -- twice -- in San Francisco when a 1989 earthquake damaged two freeways. After reaching an early state of equilibrium, traffic improved again when they were replaced with stately urban boulevards. In all cases, formerly overlooked neighborhoods became magnets for residential, business and cultural activity.

Along with the removal of Milwaukee's Park East Freeway, these are strong precedents for New Orleans. To understand the impact of removing the Claiborne expressway today, our broad coalition commissioned transportation engineering experts to review local traffic data and patterns. The report (available at cnu.org/restoringclaiborne) examined replacing the overpass between Poydras and Elysian Fields avenues. Its conclusion? The idea makes sense from a traffic perspective and is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stimulate commerce and reconnect with the area's African-American culture and history.

Some worry that expressway traffic would have nowhere to go. However, the report found that less than 20 percent of drivers on the overpass use it to cross from end to end. The boulevard would still provide them an efficient route, adding just three minutes during off-peak times, six minutes during rush hour. For the majority, who use the freeway for shorter trips, the time delay would be less. The boulevard would offer convenient connections and improved circulation.

Cost is another consideration. Yes, removing the freeway will cost many millions ­­-- but will be a lot cheaper over the years than keeping the aging overpass in operation. The federal government estimates the Claiborne expressway needs $50 million in repairs now to address just some deteriorating interchanges. And as the entire freeway nears the end of its 50-year life span, a much larger price tag looms.

Of course, whether the expressway is replaced or rebuilt, there will be construction to work around. Construction has been managed well in other cities and the freeway's placement within the existing median will help engineers keep the avenue open as it's torn down.

The Claiborne expressway is a feeder route during hurricane evacuations and also fills up bumper-to-bumper after a Saints game. According to the report, the ground-level boulevard, with three lanes in each direction, would have as much capacity as the expressway. Intersections at each block would let drivers take back routes to relieve congestion.

Will businesses really return? Will the area feel safe? Currently, thousands of potential customers per day stream overhead. The underbelly makes pedestrians want to be elsewhere. By bringing traffic to street level and creating a park-like environment for pedestrians, the boulevard would become a more vibrant place with more businesses putting "eyes on the street" to enhance safety. That's exactly what has happened in other cities.

Despite protests from predominately African-American neighborhood residents and business owners, construction of Interstate 10 erased the oak-lined avenue that had been a strolling route for Louis Armstrong and other famed New Orleanians. The 132 businesses the street supported in 1960 shrank to 35 by 2000. Restoring the boulevard offers an opportunity to fix an oppressive mistake and create rich soil for growing diverse, locally owned businesses, as well as creating jobs for people native to this community. It is the best way to make the corridor a prized asset that brings hope to Tremé and lower Mid-City and works for all of New Orleans.

Clifton James is president of the Urban Design Research Center and the architect who co-authored a Louisiana-DOT-commissioned study of restoring Claiborne Avenue in 1976. John Norquist is president and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism and former mayor of Milwaukee. E-mail the authors at jnorquist@cnu.org.